1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an inkjet recording device provided with a recording head that is mounted on the carriage and discharges ink based on the printing data; specifically, it relates to an inkjet recording device that allows margin-free printing with no margin on the left and right edges of the recording medium, or full-page margin-free printing with no margin on the top, bottom, left, and right edges of the recording medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
An inkjet recording device that can print with the margins set to zero on both the left and right edges of a recording medium is disclosed in Laid-Open Patent Application No. 8-169155. According to the recording device disclosed in this application, the device is constructed to execute the printing movement by setting the scanning scope of the recording head mounted on the carriage so that the head moves to areas beyond both the left and right edges of the recording medium.
In order to prevent the recording medium guide member from being contaminated by ink discharged beyond the left and right edges of the recording medium, a mesh screen is provided on the surface thereof to pass through ink drops discharged beyond the left and right edges of the recording medium.
Further, an ink recovery means whose movement is interlocked with the carriage movement is provided under the mesh screen to catch ink drops discharged beyond the left and right edges of the recording medium.
According to the above construction, ink that is discharged by the recording head beyond the left and right edges of the recording medium pass through the above mesh screen and is captured by the ink recovery means provided under said screen. This prevents ink drops from reaching the guide member and contaminating it directly, and avoids secondary contamination of the recording medium.
In such a recording device in the prior art as described above, although ink that is discharged from the recording head beyond the left and right edges of the recording medium is passed through the mesh screen and captured, there is a problem in that, when passing through the above mesh screen, some of the ink collides with the framework constituting the mesh screen, thereby splitting into mist and floating as ink mist.
When such ink mist is generated, a problem occurs in that some of this ink mist adheres to the recording medium to directly contaminate the recording medium. Another problem is that other parts of the ink mist would contaminate the drive mechanism of the recording device and cause disorders in the drive action.
In order to eliminate factors for ink mist generation as described above, a construction for a recording device has been proposed by the applicant of this patent application wherein ink-receiver holes for catching ink discharged by the abovementioned recording head are formed on positions on the guide member protruding beyond the left and right edges of the recording medium while at the same time ink absorbing materials are provided in said ink-receiver holes.
According to the above construction, ink drops discharged in areas beyond the left and right edges of the recording medium strike the porous ink absorbing material provided in the ink-receiver holes and are captured and absorbed by said absorbing material without generating ink mist.
If the abovementioned left and right margin-free printing is used frequently, a large amount of ink accumulates in the porous ink absorbing materials placed inside the ink-receiver holes so that a limit to the ink absorbing capability of the ink absorbing material is reached. When such a limit to the ink absorbing capability occurs, ink collects on top of the ink absorbing material, causing the left and right edges of the recording medium to be contaminated.
In the meantime, an inkjet recording device that can not only eliminate margins on the left and right edges as described above but also execute full-page margin-free printing with no margin on the top, bottom, left, and right edges has been proposed by the applicant of this application.
When performing margin-free printing also on the top and bottom of the paper, ink-receiver holes for ink discharged from the abovementioned recording head need to be formed in the longitudinal direction of the guide member, in other words continuously in the main scanning direction of the recording head, in positions of the recording medium guide member where the top and bottom edges of the conveyed recording medium pass.
In this case, if margin-free printing on the top and bottom as well as left and right if used frequently, a large amount of ink similarly accumulates in the porous ink absorbing materials placed inside the ink-receiver holes so that a limit to the ink absorbing capability of the ink absorbing material is reached. When such a limit to the ink absorbing capability occurs, ink collects on top of the ink absorbing material, causing not only the top and bottom as well as the left and right edges of the recording medium to be contaminated, but also the entire reverse side of the recording medium.
This invention is intended to resolve the technical problems described above and has the purpose of providing an inkjet recording device that is constituted to control the amount of ink discharged in areas beyond the left and right edges of the recording medium so that it can effectively prevent the recording medium being contaminated by ink, as described above.
Another purpose of this invention is to provide an inkjet recording device that is constituted to control the amount of ink discharged beyond the top and bottom edges as well as the left and right edges of the recording medium so that it can, in a similar fashion, effectively prevent the recording medium being contaminated by ink.
In the first embodiment of the inkjet recording device according to this invention, constituted to achieve the above purposes, the device is provided with a recording head that is mounted on the carriage and which discharges ink based on the printing data, and a recording medium guide member that is placed along the main scanning direction scanned by said carriage and which conveys the recording medium in a subsidiary scanning direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction. The device is constituted so that ink-receiver holes for receiving ink discharged from the abovementioned recording head are formed on the abovementioned recording medium guide member in positions beyond the edges of the recording medium being conveyed, while ink absorbing materials are placed in said ink-receiver holes and a discharged liquid accumulating means that cumulatively counts the amount of ink discharged into said ink absorbing materials are provided.
In the second embodiment of the inkjet recording device according to this invention, constituted to achieve the above purposes, the device is provided with a recording head that is mounted on the carriage and which discharges ink based on the printing data, and a recording medium guide member that is placed along the main scanning direction scanned by said carriage and which conveys the recording medium in a subsidiary scanning direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction. The device is constituted so that ink-receiver holes for receiving ink discharged from the abovementioned recording head are formed on the abovementioned recording medium guide member in positions beyond the left and right edges of the recording medium being conveyed as well as in positions where the top and bottom edges of the recording medium being conveyed pass, while ink absorbing materials are placed in said ink-receiver holes and a discharged liquid accumulating means that cumulatively counts the amount of ink discharged into said ink absorbing materials are provided.
The recording device in either of the abovementioned first embodiment and the second embodiment is preferably constituted so that the discharged liquid accumulating means, which cumulatively counts the amount of ink discharged into the ink absorbing materials in the abovementioned ink-receiver holes, executes a cumulative count for each pass action of the abovementioned carriage.
Further, the device is preferably constituted so that a predetermined specified value is cumulatively counted for each pass action of the abovementioned carriage.
Alternatively, the device is constituted so that the discharged liquid accumulating means, which cumulatively counts the amount of ink discharged into the ink absorbing materials in the abovementioned ink-receiver holes, executes a cumulative count when the recording medium is ejected.
In another alternative, the device is constituted so that the discharged liquid accumulating means, which cumulatively counts the amount of ink discharged into the ink absorbing materials in the abovementioned ink-receiver holes, executes a cumulative count when the power source to the recording device is shut down.
Whichever of the constitutions described above is adopted, the device is preferably constituted so that the abovementioned discharged liquid accumulating means, when cumulatively counting the amount of ink discharged into the ink absorbing materials in the ink-receiver holes, cumulatively counts a specified value predetermined according to the size of the recording medium to be printed.
In the preferred embodiment, the device is further provided with an accumulation determining means which verifies that the value counted by the discharged liquid accumulating means, which cumulatively counts the amount of ink discharged into the ink absorbing materials in the abovementioned ink-receiver holes, and is constituted so that it can be switched to a printing mode that does not discharge ink into the ink-receiver holes when the accumulation determining means verifies that the abovementioned specified value has been reached.
Moreover, the device is preferably constituted so that a message is displayed on the display means when it is verified that the value counted by the discharged liquid accumulating means, which cumulatively counts the amount of ink discharged into the ink absorbing materials in the abovementioned ink-receiver holes, has reached the specified value.
In the gravitational direction below the ink-receiver holes formed on the abovementioned recording medium guide member, a discharged liquid absorbing material is preferably placed to absorb and retain discharged ink from the capping means, which seals the nozzle-forming surface of the recording head and provides negative pressure by means of a suction pump, and constituted so that ink discharged into the abovementioned ink-receiver holes can migrate to said discharged liquid absorbing material.
In this case, it is desirable that a discharged liquid accumulating means be provided that counts by adding together the amount of ink discharged into the ink absorbing material in the ink-receiver holes formed on the abovementioned recording medium guide member and the amount of discharged liquid absorbed by the abovementioned discharged liquid absorbing material.
Additionally, the device is preferably constituted so that a message is displayed on the display means when it is verified that the value counted by the discharged liquid accumulating means, that counts by adding together the amount of ink discharged into the ink absorbing material in the abovementioned ink-receiver holes and the amount of discharged liquid absorbed by the abovementioned discharged liquid absorbing material, has reached the specified value.
If the above constitution is adopted, a construction whereby the ink absorbing materials contained in the abovementioned ink-receiver holes are integrally formed with the discharged liquid absorbing material, which absorbs and retains the discharged ink from the capping means, is preferably utilized.
According to the first embodiment of the inkjet recording device constituted as described above, ink absorbing materials are placed in the ink-receiver holes formed on the recording medium guide member; thus, ink discharged in areas beyond the left and right edges of the recording medium is captured and absorbed by the porous ink absorbing materials placed in the ink-receiver holes.
Also, according to the second embodiment of the inkjet recording device, ink absorbing materials are similarly placed in the ink-receiver holes formed on the recording medium guide member; thus, ink discharged in areas beyond the left and right edges of the recording medium, as well as ink discharged in positions where the top and bottom edges of the recording medium being conveyed pass, is captured and absorbed by the porous ink absorbing materials placed in the ink-receiver holes.
In either the first or second embodiment of the recording device, the amount of ink discharged toward the ink absorbing materials is cumulatively counted by the discharged liquid accumulating means. Therefore, the amount of ink discharged to the ink absorbing material may be grasped by the value counted by the abovementioned discharged liquid accumulating means.
Further, the discharged liquid accumulating means may execute a cumulative count for each carriage pass action, when the recording medium is ejected, or when the power source to the recording device is shut down, and can be constituted in such cases to utilize respectively the control signals generated at each shifting action of the carriage, the control signals generating when the recording medium is ejected, or the control signals when the power source is shut down, so that the discharged liquid accumulating means will cumulatively count a predetermined constant.
The cumulative count of the discharged amount may be more rationally executed by a constitution whereby the abovementioned specified value may be selected according to the size of the recording medium to be printed.
In the first embodiment of the recording device, therefore, when the accumulation determining means verifies that the value counted by the abovementioned discharged liquid accumulating means has reach the specified value, the discharge of ink to the ink-receiver holes may be restricted by switching to a printing mode that does not discharge ink to the ink-receiver holes, such as a normal printing mode with margins on the left and right sides of the recording medium, or by providing control so that ink is not discharged in areas beyond the left and right sides of the recording medium. Through this, contamination of the left and right edges of the recording medium with ink can be avoided.
Also in the second embodiment of the recording device, when the accumulation determining means verifies that the value counted by the abovementioned discharged liquid accumulating means has reach the specified value, the discharge of ink to the ink-receiver holes may be similarly restricted by switching to a printing mode that does not discharge ink to the ink-receiver holes, such as a normal printing mode with margins on the top and bottom as well as left and right sides of the recording medium, or by providing control so that ink is not discharged in areas beyond the top and bottom as well as left and right sides of the recording medium. Through this, contamination of the left and right edges of the recording medium with ink can be avoided.
When the accumulation determining means verifies that the abovementioned counted value has reached the specified value in either the first embodiment or the second embodiment of the recording device, the user may be notified that maintenance is required on the ink absorbing materials contained in the ink-receiver holes by having a message displayed on the display means.
Further, if the device is constructed to have a discharged liquid absorbing material, which absorbs and retains discharged ink from the capping means, placed in the gravitational direction below the ink-receiver holes formed on the recording medium guide member so that discharged ink absorbed by the ink absorbing materials placed in the ink-receiver holes can drop through gravity to the discharged liquid absorbing material, the amount of left and right margin-free printing and top and bottom as well as left and right margin-free printing on the recording medium may be greatly increased.
In this case also, the accumulated amount of discharged ink, primarily in the discharged liquid absorbing material, may be grasped by providing a discharged liquid accumulating means that counts by adding together the amount of ink discharged to the ink absorbing materials in the ink-receiver holes formed on the recording medium guide member and the amount of discharged ink absorbed by the abovementioned discharged liquid absorbing material.
When the accumulation determining means verifies that the abovementioned counted value has reached the specified value, the user may be notified that maintenance is required on the discharged liquid absorbing material by having a message displayed on the display means. In addition, the maintenance work may be facilitated by forming the ink absorbing materials contained in the ink-receiver holes integrally with said discharged liquid absorbing material.